My Top Five August 2024 Reads

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Welcome to my wrap-up of the books I read last month. I only managed to read six books in August; life got in the way, unfortunately.  On the bright side, two of them were books I’d targeted for the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge and I enjoyed all of them. That made picking only five tough. I feel bad for the one that missed out.

Links from each title will take you to my full review. Check out the list of all the books I’ve read so far in 2024. If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

My thanks to Transworld, Corvus, Bloomsbury, Quercus and Head of Zeus for providing me with review copies including via NetGalley.

Five StarsHeart, Be At Peace by Donal Ryan (Transworld) – a companion novel to The Spinning Heart, revisiting many of the same characters ten years on

Berlin Duet by S. W. Perry (Corvus) – a dramatic story of wartime espionage with a moving love story at its heart

The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable (Bloomsbury) – a story of ambition, an unwavering determination to succeed and the personal cost that comes with it

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts (Quercus) – the story of Frank L. Baum, creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and his wife Maud’s determination to ensure the film version stayed true to the spirit of the book

Six Lives by Lavie Tidhar (Head of Zeus) – six interconnected stories spanning 150 years told in a variety of styles

What were the best books you read last month? Have you read any of my picks?

 

#WWWWednesday – 4th September 2024

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WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

To Calais, in Ordinary TimeTo Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (Canongate) 

Three journeys. One road.

England, 1348. A gentlewoman is fleeing an odious arranged marriage, a Scottish proctor is returning home to Avignon and a handsome young ploughman in search of adventure is on his way to volunteer with a company of archers. All come together on the road to Calais.

Coming in their direction from across the Channel is the Black Death, the plague that will wipe out half of the population of Northern Europe. As the journey unfolds, overshadowed by the archers’ past misdeeds and clerical warnings of the imminent end of the world, the wayfarers must confront the nature of their loves and desires.

Gabriel's MoonGabriel’s Moon by William Boyd (eARC, Viking via NetGalley)

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into a web of duplicities and betrayals.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into the shadows. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story. . .

Recently finished

A Place Without Pain by Simon Bourke 

What Cathy Will Read Next

Shy CreaturesShy Creatures by Clare Chambers (Wiedenfeld & Nicolson) 

In all failed relationships there is a point that passes unnoticed at the time, which can later be identified as the beginning of the decline. For Helen it was the weekend that the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park.

Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with a charismatic, married doctor.

One spring afternoon they receive a call about a disturbance from a derelict house not far from Helen’s home. A mute, thirty-seven-year-old man called William Tapping, with a beard down to his waist, has been discovered along with his elderly aunt. It is clear he has been shut up in the house for decades, but when it emerges that William is a talented artist, Helen is determined to discover his story.